Muscat backs Ange's Socceroo revamp

Kevin Muscat has defended Ange Postecoglou's recent record at the helm of the Socceroos, insisting the head coach is well within his rights to experiment ahead of the Asian Cup.

Postecoglou has come in for criticism in some quarters following two underwhelming friendly results in the Gulf this month, a 0-0 draw with the United Arab Emirates followed by a 1-0 loss to Qatar.

Some fans and sections of the media are concerned the revamp of the national team appears to have stalled with a major tournament on home soil just over three months away.

But Muscat, who served as Postecoglou's assistant at Victory before inheriting the top job when Football Federation Australia came calling, has complete faith in the direction the Socceroos are being taken.

"I'm more than sure," he said when asked if his former mentor is still on the right track.

"What we see now is a lot of players have had an opportunity to put themselves in a position to be selected for the Asian Cup.

"I dare say, we know a lot more about players (now) rather than guessing if they're good enough or how well they've done or how well they haven't done.

"We know a lot more about those individuals, which should make selecting a team a little bit easier. We know understand rather than guessing what players can produce because we've seen it firsthand."

Australia have one more friendly against Japan in November before their Asian Cup campaign begins against Kuwait in Melbourne on January 9.

Victory fans can expect to see Milligan pull on the green and gold in that game at AAMI Park, with the club captain a regular starter during Postecoglou's first 12 months in charge.